The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness

Ness, P. (2008). The knife of never letting go. Cambridge, MA: Candlewick Press.

Todd Hewitt lives in Prentisstown and he is about to turn 13, which means he will finally become a man and he is the only boy remaining in the town. He has been told that all women and half the men have been killed by a germ released by the native species on his planet, the Spackle. The side effect of this germ is that the remaining men in Prentisstown can hear each other's thoughts as well as animals’ thoughts. Todd, however, is soon forced to learn the truth. His adoptive parents, Ben and Cillian had been planning his escape for the past eleven years. When Manchee, Todd's dog reveal that Todd had discovered a spot of moving silence in the Noise in the swamp, the two men immediately force him to leave Prentisstown. Todd leaves and then comes across the spot of silence and meets the girl named Viola, she is causing the silence. They escape and they are found by a woman. She tells Todd that the germ is not fatal for women and in fact does not affect them at all. Todd learns that his entire life has been a lie. Mayor Prentiss is hunting down Todd for escaping. As the army approaches, Ben, Todd and Viola use the confusion to escape. Todd thinks that he might spread the germ to Viola and kill her. She hears this in his Noise and escapes, but he follows her until they both find Aaron and men from Prentisstown who are tracking them at a bridge. Viola is their life saver as she burns part of the bridge. Prentiss finds them but Todd escapes, and carries a dying Viola to Haven to try and find help. They get to Haven and it's completely empty except for Mayor Prentiss. Todd surrenders to Prentiss in order to allow Viola to get help. He holds her tightly, he apologizes to her as they have ran right into a trap.

Manipulation is one of the themes in this novel. Todd grows up in a world made up of lies, thanks to the manipulation of Mayor Prentiss and his minions. Another one as in some ways, the entire plot of The Knife of Never Letting Go pivots on choice. Todd is the last kid in Prentisstown, but when he escapes right before becoming a man, instead of following the rules of Prentisstown on autopilot like everyone else has, he finds himself facing a world of decision.This book could be used by a middle school teacher to teach the genre of science fiction. 

If you enjoyed reading this book, The Knife of Never Letting Go, perhaps you may want to continue reading the following novels also written by Patrick Ness, The Ask and the Answer and Monsters of Men. This book consists of 479 thrilling pages.